US army builds lightning bolt laser weapon

The US army has successfully tested a laser device that shoots out
50 billion watt-powered bolts of lightning.

"We never got tired of the lightning bolts zapping our simulated
targets," admitted George Fischer, a physicist leading the project
at the Picatinny
Arsenal research lab in New Jersey.

Rather than harnessing actual bolts of lightning, the
Laser-Induced Plasma Channel (LIPC) works by pairing an intense
laser beam with an electromagnetic field strong enough to rip
electrons from surrounding air molecules. This produces a beam of
plasma that travels along the laser beam and can be redirected
using mirrors.

"The plasma channel conducts electricity way better than
un-ionised air, so if we set up the laser so that the filament
comes near a high voltage source, the electrical energy will travel
down the filament," said Fischer.

The resulting flash of energy appears like a bolt of
lightning.

Fischer went on to explain how by ensuring the laser pulse is
short and sharp, the energy can be significantly increased: "If a
laser puts out a pulse with modest energy, but the time is
incredibly tiny, the power can be huge. During the laser pulse it
can be putting out more power than a large city needs, but the
pulse only lasts for two-trillionths of a second."

He added: "For very powerful and high intensity laser pulses,
the air acts like a lens, keeping the light in a small-diameter
filament. We use an ultra-short-pulse laser of modest energy to
make a laser beam so intense that it focuses on itself in air and
stays focused in a filament."

The team learnt to keep power intensity low until the beam was
targeted accurately. Otherwise, it posed a danger of destroying the
laser itself by self-focusing on the air around it.

It works best when focused on targets that conduct electricity
better than the air or ground around them. In this way, it should
be able to strike specific objects, such as vehicles, without
causing excess damage to the surrounding area.

The successful model tested features a series of adaptations
that should ensure it can survive tough conditions in the field and
stay powered-up for long stretches.

I agree with Peter.. What a waste of mind.. So many geniuses in the wrong field of science!!!

charalambos kanellas

Jun 30th 2012

@George Smith - Garbage? This technology could be used for so many things, not least of which is space tech. You're going to call a huge leap in technology garbage? Or is it simply that you are struggling to understand the article?

hildegain

Jul 1st 2012

The next step is presumably the undetectable shooting down of a plane in flight? 'Nothing to do with us, that plane was hit by lightning, prove otherwise......'